There is a stark reality facing Honolulu, a looming crisis that defies simple solutions. Of course, that doesn’t mean leaders can responsibly throw up their hands, but instead must push hard to make incremental gains.
The crisis is the lack of sufficient affordable housing. Elected leaders are fully aware of a gap between supply and demand, one that is not contracting.
And they know that the shortage is growing worse. Mayor Kirk Caldwell, for one, underscores that households earning about 80 percent of the area median income (AMI) represent about three-fourths of the housing need.
There is a balancing act here, of course: Developers need to be incentivized to build lower-cost housing, which has a thinner profit margin, otherwise they will sit out the projects.
However, the Hawaii Community Development Authority, for one, rightly has concluded that it no longer can sit by passively. The agency board ought to adopt at least some of the measures staff has recommended to address this crucial need.
HCDA is planning public hearings on proposed changes to its rules, likely beginning next month. The agency, which oversees the redevelopment of the Kakaako district, is taking some welcome steps toward meeting the most acute need. Here are some bullet points from the plan:
>> Prices would be reduced for condos and rental apartments that developers have to build and offer at below-market rates. The aim would be to target the below-market units, comprising at least 20 percent of the homes in a project, at buyers or renters who earn 120 percent of AMI.
>> Similarly, the monthly rents of required below-market units would be lowered, and they would need to stay in the affordable range for 30 years instead of 15 years.
>> There would be greater opportunity for state buybacks of units that go on sale, in order to keep up the inventory of affordable units.
For projects yet to be built, current rules require units to be affordable by residents at 140 percent of AMI. This translates into a $98,560 salary for an individual or $140,700 for a family of four. On average, that individual could buy a $500,000 one-bedroom unit, with the family potentially purchasing a $710,000 home. Those are high financial hurdles.
Under the HCDA staff proposal, the unit cost would be lowered to around $430,000 for a single person or $610,000 for a family.
Monthly rents also must be affordable at the 120 percent AMI level, dropping from $2,500 to $2,100 for a studio, and from $3,200 to $2,700 for a two bedroom.
These rates are high enough that a daunting mission still remains for state agencies tapping federal subsidies to build something for the 80 percent AMI group.
The lower income target of 120 percent also would apply to another HCDA program, one that requires developers to price 75 percent of its units as “workforce” housing, built without subsidies. Also to be extended to workforce housing: the condition giving HCDA the first option to buy back a unit resold within two to five years.
Developers are complaining about the difficulty of producing the 120-percent AMI homes without subsidies. They will need to explain at the public hearings why projects can’t pencil out at the lower price point, which, at 20 percent above what the average Honolulu resident can afford, seems reasonable.
The builders of the 801 South St workforce twin towers, for example, counter that their project was successful, selling out at 140 percent AMI. But while it’s true that there is a healthy demand for homes at that price, it still pales in comparison to the need for lower-priced homes.
Opportunities to fill the need, such as the Kakaako redevelopment — and transit-oriented development by the city — come along rarely, and public officials need to make the most of them.
